Police inspector Léonetti, a tough, efficient policeman, has been sent to a second-rate police station after being reprimanded. There he is given a partner, young and beautiful Jeanne Dumas. The duo are soon assigned a very difficult mission: to find a man whose evidence is instrumental in convicting a murderer. They start searching throughout Paris.

In the late 1970s and early 80s, assassinations in Sicily get the attention of Communist deputy, Pio La Torre, who appeals to General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa to become prefect in Palermo and take on the Mafia. Dalla Chiesa approaches the job with the same focus and methods he used in hunting down the Red Brigade.

When political thugs murder an opponent's volunteer and also kill a cop, chief inspector Verjeat believes the politician who hired them is as guilty as the murderous goon. Verjeat's pursuit of the councilman, Lardatte, gets him a warning from his superiors. When he embarrasses Lardatte while disarming a hostage (the dead volunteer's father), Verjeat is told he's being transferred within a week. He speeds up his hunt for the goon and, with Lefévre, one of his young detectives, he engineers a complicated scheme to buy more time before the transfer. How should Verjeat play out his values of honor and duty?

1984年法国经典犯罪片。雨夜，离职记者巴斯蒂安在回家途中，突然遭到歹徒的袭击。老同事让约翰提议请警方干预。巴斯蒂安唯恐自己的隐私被披露，婉言谢绝。巴斯蒂安自妻子去世后，辞退了记者工作，写书谋生，与养女罗拉相依为命。罗拉已结婚，明天将跟随丈夫克莱博纳到伦敦演出。当巴斯蒂安送别了他俩后，在返家途中，又遭到车祸，险些丧命。几经周折，他找到了驾车人博莱克。博莱克谎称酒后驾车，失去控制。这时，巴斯蒂安发现门前传来一个男人的阵阵咳嗽声，似乎在暗示着博莱克，巴斯蒂安感到蹊跷。巴斯蒂安被撞坏的车刚刚修复，又突然被炸。他决定报警，请求保护。在陈述案情时，巴斯蒂安为了维护情人卡特琳的声誉，谎报了被袭击的地点，引起了警方的怀疑。原来当天晚上，总主教桥上在拍电视，交通被封锁，任何车辆是不得通行的……